While the Societies of Ancient Egypt and the Ottoman Turks Were Similar in Creating Many s1

Rivard 1

While the societies of Ancient Egypt and the Ottoman Turks were similar in creating many new things such as building new inventions like the ramp or creating a new school, they were different because their societies went in different ways like the Ottomans focused on expanding their empire and the Egyptians focused on being intellectual.

The Egyptian social structure was simple; the social statuswas organizedlike a pyramid with the god-king at the top and the slaves at the end. Below the pharaoh was the upper class of nobles and priests; merchants, tax collectors, scribes, and artisans made up the third highest class; this could also be considered the working class. Egyptians were able to move up in classes but the Ottomans were stuck in the same class because of the skills and the work they did. The Ottoman had four different social classes. The first and highest are the Men of Pen which were highly educated; scientist, lawyers, judges, and doctors. Second, are the Men of Sword, were the military personnel. Then, came the Men of Negotiation which were the merchants, artisans and tax collectors. The lowest are the Men of Husbandry, were the farmers and herders who provided all the food. The similarities of both of these civilizations were that the merchants, artisan, and tax collectors were in the same level in both of the social classes of Ancient Egypt and the Ottoman Empire.

Their society consisted of three kingdoms (Old, Middle, and New) and about thirty-four different dynasties. The Egyptianswere ruledby kings or pharaohs. The earlier rulerswere called“Horus-kings”. There are many rulers over the time due to disease, illness, or being killed by a dangerous sport, etc. The Egyptians had only the pharaoh to tell what to do and to deal with the people’s problems. Unlike the Egyptians the Ottomans didn’t have as many kings or dynasties. They did have a few do to the many years they were in power. The sultans ruled about twenty years. There were a few sultans who ruled twice. Between both civilizations the rulers ruled until their death, many of them did not step down for another ruler to take rule.

Egyptians were very smart people. They were known for creating many things and having various inventions that were never done before. They say that one of the greatest achievements was building the pyramids. The pyramidswere builtto bededicated to the dead and somewere usedto house some of the greatest deceased pharaohs like King Khufu. “The Egyptians invented and used many basic machines, such as the ramp and the lever, to aid construction processes (Crystalinks1).” They mined gold, copper, iron and used them for different things. Egyptians knew how to make glass which was useful for making beads, jars, and rods. They worked with alchemy and metallurgy. They learned how to use plants as medicine and how to create various remedies for various injuries or illness. The mummification process was used to keep their dead from rotting. The Ottomans on the other hand didn’t really create much, but what they did was create madrasas which were colleges. Education of religion and law was important to the Ottomans. Later, they added medical and astronomy schools. They attempted successful flying attempt with artificial wings.

The Ottoman economy was made of partly trading. They used caravans and ships to carry silk, teas, spices, and porcelain. Russia and the Black Sea came with furs, grain, and amber. Europe traded mirrors and drugs. Ottomans had inherited Seljuk caravan stops to help protect the caravan trade. They had state supervision to make sure there was no cheating; the kadi patrolled the markets for cheating. There was a tax on almost every transaction. The government was informed of everything; for example, when an employee left a company they were notified. Their main exports were leather, skins and wool. Many men were engaged in some sort of trade, even the sultan learned one. The Egyptian had many aspects on the economy that made their lives successful. They used trading for their money. The people collected grew or raised things to be sold in the markets. Egyptians trading was made up of trading gold and wheat. The children grew up learning the trade of their family.

The Egyptians were a polytheistic religion. Their religion was influenced by tradition. They believed in as many as seven hundred gods. Pharaoh was considered a descendant from the gods. The four main religions were Heliopolis, Memphis, Hermopolis, and Theban theology. “The Egyptians did have an aberrant period of some form of monotheism during the New Kingdom, in which the pharaoh Akhenaten abolished the official worship of other gods in favor of the sun-diskAten (Crystalinks 6).“ Atenism was first introduced by Amenhotep IV. Akhenaten banned idols from. He declared that Aten was the only god to be worshiped and celebrated. There were elaborate beliefs about death and the afterlife. There was belief about a life force humans possessed. They used mythology to tell stories about the gods’ actions and roles.

The Ottomans were a Muslim based empire.

Works cited

http://www.crystalinks.com/egyptscience.html

www.fcps.edu

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/ottomanempire_1.shtml

http://www.ducksters.com/history/ancient_egypt/inventions_and_technology.php

http://www.alislam.org/egazette/articles/science-and-technology-in-ottoman-sultanate/

http://alancheng100.wordpress.com/social-structure-of-the-ottoman-empire/

http://en.metapedia.org/wiki/List_of_sultans_of_the_Ottoman_Empire

http://www.globaled.org/nyworld/materials/ottoman/turkish.html

http://www.ducksters.com/history/ancient_egypt/inventions_and_technology.php

http://historylink101.com/n/egypt_1/religion.htm

http://www.crystalinks.com/egyptreligion.html